Micah

by Rebecca Royce

  It wasn’t a long crawl through the bricks. I emerged on the other side three minutes later. How had my family done this? Was one of them carrying a shovel? Probably Chad.

  On the other side, I found an empty hallway. No sign of my family or Brynna. I sighed. That would be too easy. If I went left, I’d hit the entrance where the flashing lights had been, and right probably led to where Brynna went.

  She was alone on this mission to find others like her. The people who were supposed to be like me had left together. I didn’t even stop to think about what I planned to do next. My people were alive, but they didn’t need me.

  Brynna did.

  Oh, who was I kidding? I needed her.

  An angry moment couldn’t be the last one between us. I wouldn’t allow it, couldn’t handle an argument being our goodbye.

  I came to a fork in the hallway, and I sighed. Nothing was easy. If I went left, I’d hit the place where this all began, when Glen jumped down into the tech area. Brynna had been over there. I’d go that way until I found her. Even if I walked for weeks. My hand was broken, it hurt like hell and I…

  I never saw what hit me, but I went down hard. Blackness rushed in all around me.

  I came to briefly. I was on the floor somewhere. I tried to get to my feet, fast, and instead I tumbled backward.

  “Do you have him?” asked a female voice I didn’t know. The room spun, and two Vampire hands, pale, veiny, with long nails, grabbed me before I hit the floor.

  I don’t wish to hurt him. He belongs to her.

  But the blood… they’ll take away the blood….

  I didn’t know whose voice it was, and I didn’t care. I’d had two serious head blows, and I was out for the count.

  In my dream, I walked the streets of New York. They were empty. No traffic. No cars. Just the sound of babies crying. Everywhere.

  Chapter 6

  Two Vampires stood over me. This had to be some kind of nightmare, except I was awake. They’d strapped me to a medical table. Bandages covered my arm. What in the hell was happening? I struggled to breathe, my chest tight like I was having an asthma attack. I’d grown out of them when I was eight. But I’d never forgotten this feeling. I couldn’t defend myself from these two. Whoever had knocked me out had left me here to be easy prey.

  Well… I supposed it had been a hell of a good run. I was only sorry I couldn’t apologize to Brynna for being a dipshit.

  “Ivan?” That was the only name I knew. The one she’d spoken to in the hallway, she’d called him Ivan. It was kind of a perfect name for a Vampire. “You can’t both be Ivan.”

  The pair made eye contact then studied me. These were pretty with it Vampires, didn’t seem particularly out of it at all.

  Okay, take two. “Brynna really liked my blood. Glad to know I’ll be an enjoyable last meal.”

  The sound of footsteps behind me had both Vampires turning their attention. They retreated a step, and Brynna appeared in my vision. “Micah. What in the world happened?”

  I shook my head. “Don’t they know?” The two Vampires abandoned their lurking, gliding away from us.

  She sighed. “You’re lucky they had control of the bloodlust.” She undid my straps. “I started seeing you like this moving through memories. I came looking.”

  I tried to sit up, and she had to help me. Wow, I was weak. “I was trying to find you.”

  “I was trying to find you, too. Turns out I care about what happens to you even if you’re an asshole.”

  I let her guide me off the table. They’d clearly gone to town pricking me with needles while I’d been out of it. What had they done to me? “I am an asshole. I care about what happens to you, too.”

  I had to lean on her, which was humiliating. “What did they do to me?”

  “They poked you a lot. The Vampires don’t know more than that. Apparently, the scientists were looking for you. Come on. We need to get you out of here before they return. It’s quite a walk.”

  Nope, I wasn’t going to make it. “Deposit me in a corner somewhere. Get yourself out before they find you.”

  She huffed. “That’s not happening. If you’re not strong enough to get out of here yet, we’ll go somewhere closer. Keep walking as best you can, one foot in front of the other. Lean on me.”

  I did the best I could. Speaking proved to be too much, so I made my way with her and concentrated on not falling over. The last of us to encounter a scientist had been Deacon. They’d given him a horrible drug that nearly killed him. Was that what they did to me? I didn’t feel bad, only weak.

  Eventually, we found a small room with a sleeping pad in the corner. “Is this where you’ve been staying?” I could barely say the words.

  “Yes.” She helped me down on the pad. “If it means anything, in the memories, it seemed more like they took blood. They didn’t inject you with medication.”

  It did. I crawled onto the pad. She knelt down next to me before she kissed my cheek. “You’re going to be okay, asshole.”

  I loved how she put things.

  I woke up some time later with no idea how long I’d been out. I could tell it had been a long haul, because I was stiff everywhere. There was only a touch of light coming through the bottom of the door, keeping it from pitch darkness. So this is where she slept when she was here. Of course, where else did she go? I didn’t know much about her, although I wanted to.

  Where was she? “Brynna?”

  “I’m here.” She was across the room. “I can’t go near you right now.”

  Well… that sucked. “Why? Do I smell? I’m sure I need to shower. I…”

  She laughed. “No. I wish it was so simple. Suddenly, I have to feed again. I don’t know why. It should have been a month. I don’t understand, and you are obviously not in any condition to…”

  Oh but fuck did I suddenly want it. It didn’t make any sense to me either. “I’m not sure I have enough to give.” I stumbled to my feet. “I love the idea, too.”

  “Let’s get you out of here. I’m going to stay a distance ahead of you. I don’t want to go far. But I’m not sure I can resist biting you, which is all kinds of wrong. I know.”

  I stayed where I was and waited for her to move in front of me. “What’s happening to us, Brynna?”

  “I don’t know.”

  That didn’t sound encouraging.

  It took me twice as long to get out as it should have, but at least I was steadier than when I first got out of the scientist’s med bay. My hand still throbbed. The doctors had clearly not thought to fix it when they had me on the table. I climbed slowly up the ladder until finally we made it above ground. The sun burned my eyes, and I almost slipped down a rung.

  Brynna grabbed my arm and steadied me. “Easy there, killer.”

  “You come up with the greatest names for me.”

  She laughed, and I waited for my eyes to adjust.

  Brynna touched the side of my face. “You look like shit.”

  “Yeah, I bet I do.” I could only imagine. “Everything hurts. I might be down for the count for a little bit, which is highly unusual for me. I took down a bunch of Werewolves when I had the flu.”

  Brynna breathed heavily. I’d never seen her in daylight. She was even lovelier. Her dark hair had a lot more colors in it than I’d seen before. Red and blonde streaks. Her eyes were multicolored, too. Fuck, she was beautiful.

  I already knew, but it was like I was seeing it for the first time again.

  “I want to fix you, so badly.” She put her hands on my arms.

  I shook my head. “I thought you didn’t have magical Vampire healing abilities.”

  “I don’t. And that’s why I can’t understand this.” She stepped back. “I can’t bite you. There is hardly any blood left in you. I can hear your body struggling. Let’s get you back to Margot. I’ll take you as far as I can, and then I’ll…”

  “No.” I didn’t like where this was going. “You’re going to stay with me. For a little bit anyway.�
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  The idea of us separating ignited a sense of panic. Fear crawled up my spine. I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something nasty, a knee-jerk reaction to terror.

  I glued my lips together. I’d keep my mouth shut. Nothing would be better than something awful.

  “Micah!” Chad’s shout from a distance broke up the moment.

  Brynna caught her breath and looked away. “Your people are here.”

  “Sometimes they feel like my people, and sometimes they don’t.” I couldn’t take my gaze off of her. If I did, she might not know. I didn’t know what it was exactly she might not know, but she might not know it. Damn, I was losing my mind.

  She gave me a small smile. “They’re your people. Don’t forget that. I’m going to take care of your scientist problem. Stay up here in the sunlight. Leave the darkness for the monsters.”

  “Brynna…”

  I reached for her, but she was gone. That fast. I fell forward, my knees giving out. Chad was there to catch me before I hit the ground. If I’d had any ability left to care, I might have found that humiliating.

  Margot listened to my heartbeat, checked my blood pressure, and still hadn’t said anything about what I’d told her. We weren’t alone. Apparently, every Warrior in Genesis had gotten ready to come rescue me, and since I officially didn’t need rescuing, they prowled the area of my doctor’s appointment.

  In the end, my father, Chad, and Deacon were all with me.

  “Explain.” My dad was apparently sick of waiting. “He was concussed. He… had sex with her, she bit him, and now he’s not concussed. Then whatever the scientists did to him, the broken hand… explain it to me.”

  I supposed I should have kept some of those events to myself. I didn’t really want to talk about having sex with Brynna in front of my father. But I needed answers, and the leader of Genesis learned anything pertaining to the Vampires. If there was some magical healing thing, he had to hear about it.

  So much for the years of privacy…

  Margot crossed her arms. “I can speculate. I don’t have the equipment I need here to really know.”

  “Good enough,” I answered before anyone else could. Chad inserted himself between my father and me. I wondered if we were about to have a fight. I didn’t have the energy to care.

  She sighed. “One of the things done to Brynna to cure her from Vampirism was that we infused her with some Werewolf DNA. The Werewolves couldn’t become Vampires. It worked.”

  I waited for her to continue. “Was I supposed to understand something from Werewolf DNA? Congratulations on finding something that worked, but what the hell does that mean for me?”

  Margot looked down. “Werewolves can heal their mates. The blood exchange in the mating process gives the mate increased healing. I think the fact she bit you and then kissed you may have allowed you to exchange blood. Maybe it’s saliva entering the wound when she bit you. Could be that easy. I don’t know. The DNA change in her might have given her some of those properties.”

  “Oh, well that’s good, then. We had our moment and…”

  She put her hand on my arm and stopped me. “Micah, are you missing her? I know you’re not feeling well. We have to splint up your hand, and you’ve had some serious blood loss. Rest. Fluids. Iron. Okay. But you’re jumpy. Usually, you’re so mellow I’m not sure if you’re awake.”

  My father snorted. “That’s just because he wasn’t hitting on you.”

  I got up on my knees on the table, reached around Chad, and yanked my father toward me by the shirt. He needed to know I was deadly serious. “Those days are behind me. Do you understand?”

  Chad restrained our father while Deacon took my hands off Dad’s shirt. I breathed hard. I was sore, exhausted, and slightly broken, but I wasn’t afraid. If it came to this, it came to this.

  “Micah,” Chad yelled at me. “Not okay with what he said, but shit, man.”

  “I…”

  Margot stepped into the fray. “Everyone stop. This is mate behavior. He can’t help it.”

  Wait. “What?”

  Margot sighed. “If Brynna’s small amount of DNA has given her this ability to heal, then it’s possible it also gave her some of the other aspects of being a Werewolf. Okay? They mate. It’s a binding. I don’t know every detail of your… exchange with Brynna, but the way you are feeling is how mates feel when they separate from their other half.”

  None of this made any sense. “I’m mated? Wait. No. Okay?” I had to be sensible and not lose my mind before I understood what she was saying. “Jason, he was a Werewolf who’s dead now, he always said he was mated to Rachel. She didn’t miss him like this when he wasn’t around.”

  Margot nodded. “Look, I only studied them from a distance.”

  Chad looked away. “So screwed up you were studying any of this at all. Be careful what you say here, we’re talking about my wife.”

  “I wasn’t going to say anything bad, Chad. Jason, Rachel, they were test studies to me. I’m sorry that upsets you. It bothers me, too. I read a lot about them. And I’ve come to believe Rachel was not really Jason’s mate.”

  My brother’s eyebrows rose. “She’s human. He felt it. She didn’t.”

  “Doesn’t work that way. Jason’s mother was human. She and his father were truly mated. The human feels the mating. They just do. Could be they never had sex, Rachel and Jason, presuming they didn’t. That wouldn’t have mattered either. He was fixated with her, but it wasn’t mating. Maybe he wanted it to be. That’s why Andon kept trying to get rid of Rachel. He knew it wasn’t true either.” She shook her head. “You, by contrast, Micah, are mated. If it means anything, you had to have wanted her for this to have happened. Something about the two of you connected.”

  My father, having found his voice again, used it. “Of course he is. Leave it to Micah to mate the fucking monster.”

  I attacked him.

  Chad stared at me after dumping me on the bed in my tent. My hand was in a splint, an icepack on my eye since my father had a pretty good left hook, and I was all around more sore than I had even been earlier. I’d gotten in a few blows of my own but not nearly enough to satisfy me.

  “Don’t say it.”

  He squatted in front of my bed. “Not going to. What are you going to do?”

  “What is there to do?” I rolled onto my side. “I have to find her. Like I have to do it as though it’s the only way I can keep breathing. That’s the mating thing. I get it. And yet, I’m not able to do anything about it, and I’m not sure I would if I could. But maybe I only feel this way because of the mating.”

  Chad rose, patting my foot. “You know where we are if you need us.”

  “It’s like I can’t think because I don’t know where she is or if she’s okay.”

  He rubbed his chin. “Start by assuming she is. We’ll figure this out. You’re going to get through this.”

  For once, I was pretty sure Chad had no idea what he was talking about.

  After he left, I tossed and turned. I had to talk to Margot, let her know I knew she was full of shit and if she hurt Genesis in any way, she’d know the wrath of me. That type of conversation wouldn’t go well if I was this weak.

  I rubbed my eyes. I had to find Brynna. I threw my legs over the side of the bed. Okay, she was like a drug, and I was an addict. Fine, I needed my fix. I’d figure out how to…

  “Micah.” Brynna came through the door. I jolted. How had she gotten here? Damn, I didn’t care. I’d get details later. She was quickly by my side in a second. “I don’t know what’s going on. I shouldn’t be here. I’m not fit to be around people. But I can’t stay away.”

  I held out my hand. I had to touch her. “There’s a reason for that.” I sighed. “Margot has an explanation. Apparently, to make a long story short, they saved you with Werewolf DNA. So what we have done is, ah, mated. Sorry about that.”

  She rose to her feet. “What?”

  “Do you want me to explain it again? I…”<
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  Brynna shook her head. “I’m going to find Margot.”

  Just like that, she was gone.

  I fell back on the bed. Knowing she was okay did settle me down a little bit. I groaned. This was all my fault. I went down below when I should have stayed where I was, helping Genesis, but I always had to push and push. Now this had happened, and Brynna was stuck with me.

  The tent flap opened with a whoosh. I sighed. “That was fast.”

  “Micah?” I lifted my head. This person wasn’t Brynna, but a higher-pitched, whinier voice.

  “Who’s there?” I couldn’t see in the dark. I had to light one of my lanterns or latch my flap to allow better illumination.

  The unknown woman walked toward me. “I heard you were back.”

  Sadly, the truth was I had no idea who this person was, let alone why she’d be at all interested in the fact I was back. “Who are you?”

  “Oh.” She twirled the end of her hair. Was it blonde? Brown? “I guess you don’t remember me, but I’ll never forget you. My name is Marilyn. I thought maybe I could make you feel better like you made me feel better months ago. I haven’t been able to stop thinking of you.”

  I didn’t know who she was. Maybe someone else would be proud of having had some kind of encounter they couldn’t quite recall, but not me. Shame at how little I cared about the people who shared my bed for an evening.

  My mother would be ashamed and right to be. I’d been raised to have more respect than I had been showing women.

  “Marilyn, look.” I tried to get up. “I’m not sure what you thought was going to happen here.” I managed to get to my feet. “But it’s…”

  She touched my arm, and I stepped back. I really didn’t want her touching me. I stumbled back onto the bed.

  “I can make you feel better, Micah.”

  I shook my head. “No, thank you. You should go.”

  She grabbed both my arms. “You know I can make you feel good.”

  I remembered Marilyn right then. She had been… persistent on a night when I’d intended to go home alone. I’d ended up figuring oh what the hell and taken her back to her tent for a couple of hours together. She’d told me later she was in an on again off again relationship with someone named Eric who worked in non-Warrior security.